As an advocate for the use of technology to support teaching and learning, I am always looking out for new and exciting ways to engage my students. In this post, I look at some popular tech toys / gadgets and explore how they can be used to support the new Computing Curriculum.

1. Parrot AR Drones

What is an AR Drone? The Parrot AR Drone is a camera-equipped, smartphone and tablet controlled quadricopter. (See video below)

Thanks to work by Lucas Beyer, a 15 year old student from Barcelona, it is now possible to program the AR Drone with Python script using a piece of software called Autoflight:

Control your AR Drone with Python using AutoFlight.

AutoFlight is a free download which features AR.Drone control with a gamepad or joystick, sensor data logging, 3d mapping, Python scripting to automate the drone's behavior and Arduino extensions.

Sample script.

As you can see from the sample script (above), programming the AR Drone is fairly straightforward: Connect to the drone, takeoff, hover, move forward, rotate, land etc.

Price: AR Drone: Brand new, an AR Drone 2.0 is about £270 however, a second hand AR Drone 1.0 can be picked up from ebay for as little as £50. Both models can be controlled using the Autoflight software. Autoflight software: Free Download Autoflight here: http://www.lbpclabs.com/autoflight.html

Parrot Rolling Spider The Parrot Rolling Spider is a tiny app driven drone. It's six times lighter than the original AR Drone yet it possesses all the same functionality and agility. Due to its size and durability, the Parrot Rolling Spider is much more suitable for classroom use. The Rolling Spider can be controlled with the dedicated app but can also be programmed with Tickle App (See below). Price: £80

2. Sphero & Ollie

What is Sphero?

Sphero is the world’s first robotic ball which you can control with your smartphone.(See video below)

What is Ollie? Coming off the back of the huge success of Sphero, Ollie is the two-wheeled, Sphero inspired, app controlled ‘big brother’ to Sphero. With a larger processor and more powerful motor, Ollie is designed for speed and teaching the robot to perform tricks. http://www.sphero.com/ollie

Sphero SPRK Sphero-SPRK is the latest edition to the Sphero family directly targeted for the education market. Sphero-SPRK comes with a dedicated app (SPRK app) straight out of the box designed to encourage students to code. The SPRK app lets you control the Sphero with visual blocks representing code – using their own C-based language called OVAL. Sphero also provide a series of lessons (http://www.sphero.com/education) to support the use of Sphero in the classroom designed around supporting a variety of STEM topics – including programming.http://www.sphero.com/sphero-sprk

Controlling Sphero/Ollie/Parrot Rolling Spider with Tickle App As well as using the official Sphero apps to control Sphero and Ollie, you can also use free third party apps such as Tickle App (iOS).With Tickle App (see Apps), you can seamlessly connect to a number of physical devices such as Arduino, Dash & Dot, Sphero, Ollie, Parrot mini drones Rolling Spider & Jumping Sumo, and Philips Hue smart lighting systems and program them from your iPad using a ‘Scratch-like’ interface. (Note: Some devices require an iPad 3/iPad mini or above). Price: Sphero: £100. Sphero-SPRK: $129 (Currently only available in US - Educational discounts also available). Ollie: £80. Tickle App: Free

3. Dash & Dot

Dot and Dash are educational toy robots that help kids learn to code through play. Designed to appeal to younger students, Dash & Dot can be programmed via a number of free apps including Blockly for Dash & Dot (iOS/Android) and Tickle App (iOS only). Both Dash and Dot are also compatible with Lego (including Lego MindStorm) which allow you to customise your robot e.g. add a pen holder to turn your robot into a Turtle etc. There are also a number of accessories available for both Dash & Dot including a phone holder and xylophone. Visit the official website to find out more: https://www.makewonder.com/robots/dashanddot

Use the included Lego attachment to customise your robot!

Price:

Dash: £150

Dash & Dot Pack: £190

Dash & Dot Wonder Pack (includes ): £240

Blockly for Dash & Dot App: Free

Tickle App: Free

4. Bigtrak

This iconic 80's toy is a great tool for teaching algorithms and sequence of instructions. Bigtrak can remember up to 16 commands. Simply enter them via the keypad and then watch it execute the instructed sequence (such as "go forward 5 lengths", "pause", "turn 30 degrees right", "fire phaser" etc). For an example of how to use Bigtrak to teach Computational Thinking, click here: Bigtrak resources for KS1

Price: Bigtrak £35 / Bigtrak Junior £25.

5. Beebot

These award winning programmable floor robots have a simple and child friendly layout and are a perfect starting point for teaching control, directional language and programming to young children.

Those of us old enough to remember Logo, will love the simplicity of this programmable toy! The roamer operates in a similar way to the turtle in Logo. Pupils control the roamer using simple commands such forward and left turn.

Lego Mindstorms NXT is a programmable robotics kit from the makers of LEGO. The robot can be controlled using easy-to-use drag-and-drop programming software which is available for both PC and Macintosh platforms. With Bluetooth support, you can even command your robot from your mobile phone! Even better, thanks to a free open source tool called Enchanting, you can now also program your NXT robot using Scratch! To find out more about how to using Enchanting to program your robot via Scratch, click here.

With several tablet devices available on the market, you may be asking the question, why have I singled out the iPad? The reason for this is due to a couple of recent apps that have been developed, primarily for iOS, to teach programming.

1. Cargo-bot

Cargo-bot is a fun and challenging game designed to teach programming. The idea is simple; players have to program a crane to move boxes back and forth between platforms. The player controls the crane using blocks (Up, Down, Left, Right) which they must place in the correct sequence however, there is only a limited number of spaces to place the blocks meaning that the player is forced to create sub-routines (progs) to optimise the sequence of instructions. The challenge is to move the crane using the least number of instructions. Stars are awarded for the number of instructions used – The more optimised the instructions, the more stars the player is awarded.

Cargo-bot - Fun and challenging game designed to introduce programming concepts.

Daisy the Dinosaur is a free iOS app designed for younger children to introduce programming concepts such as sequences, loops and events. The app uses an easy-to-use drag and drop interface to control Daisy in order to complete various challenges.

The new Bee-Bot App from TTS Group has been developed based on our well-loved, award-winning Bee-Bot floor robot. The app makes use of Bee-Bot's keypad functionality and enables children to improve their skills in directional language and programming through sequences of forwards, backwards, left and right 90 degree turns.

The app has been developed with 12 levels encouraging progression. Each level is timed and the faster it is completed the more stars you get! The levels are set in an engaging garden scenario and will appeal from age 4 upwards. Note: If you don't have access to a set of iPads, why not try the original Bee-Bot (see below)

Light-bot for Hour of Code is meant to introduce kids who have no experience whatsoever programming, and is all-ages friendly! That means anyone anywhere at any age can play, have fun and learn real programming logic! Light-bot is a programming puzzle game: a puzzle game that uses game mechanics that are firmly rooted in programming concepts. Light-bot lets players gain a practical understanding of basic control-flow concepts like instruction sequencing, procedures and loops, just by guiding a robot with commands to light up tiles and solve levels.

Inspired by the Scratch programming tool, ScratchJr is is an introductory programming language that enables young children (ages 5-7) to create their own interactive stories and games. Although based on the popular Scratch (drag-and-drop) block programming environment, the ScratchJr interface has been re-designed to make it more suitable for a younger audience.

Tickle App is a free visual programming app for the iPad/iPhone. Using a ‘Scratch style’ interface, Tickle App introduces you to code through games creation and story-telling using its built-in animations and sound.